Artist Statement

When I walk deep into Brooklyn's Prospect Park on the first snowfall each year, I find myself transported to the winter meadows and hills of my childhood and to the hikes and backpacking trips around the tiny Pennsylvania factory town where I grew up. My town was surrounded by Christmas tree farms, apple orchards, corn fields and forested hills. My stomping grounds were the trail down to Kettle Creek bottom, the railroad bridge across the Susquehanna River, and the walk through hemlocks and pines to the swimming hole known as The Haystacks. The steeper streets were closed when it snowed, and we immediately claimed them for sledding. At first glance, many of the snowy spaces in The Urban Wilderness might be mistaken for those rural scenes: stark white meadows rimmed by low hills and bare trees. But upon closer inspection, street lamps come into focus, hints of park benches appear and backpackers are revealed to be dog walkers. The wilderness and the urban details are an incongruous mix: the juxtaposition of pristine emptiness with hints of the immense human presence lurking just outside the frame. But a hike through Prospect Park in the winter is the closest thing I can manage these days to those walks through the snowy hills of my childhood.

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Joseph O. Holmes

Joseph
O.
Holmes'
photographs
have
hung
in
solo
and
group
shows
around
the
world.
His
series
"The
Booth”
was
a
Featured
Exhibition
of
Toronto's
CONTACT
Photography
Festival,
following
its
four-month
run
at
New
York
City’s
Museum
of
the
Moving
Image.
Among
other
awards,
Holmes
has
been
honored
with
a
Curator's
Commendation
at
the
Houston
Center
for
Photography,
first
prize
in
MPLS
Photo
Center's
2010
Portraits
Exhibition,
Honorable
Mention
in
the
Silver
Eye
Gallery's
Fellowship
Competition,
Honorable
Mention
in
the
PX3
Prix
de
la
Photographie
Paris
Competition,
and
Honorable
Mention
in
the
Photographic
Center
Northwest's
12th
Annual
Competition.
He
has
been... Read More

a
Top
50
and
Finalist
in
Critical
Mass/Photolucida
and
twice
invited
to
the
Review
Santa
Fe
juried
portfolio
review.
He
lives
in
Brooklyn
and
is
represented
by
Jen
Bekman
Gallery,
New
York
City.
Learn
more
about
Joseph
in
his
In
the
Studio
interview!